2015 Archive Stories Blog: Movies-TV

“Insurgent” (Rated PG-13 for intense violence and action throughout, some sensuality, thematic elements and brief language, 119 minutes): Dystopian future? Check. Brooding young people wishing for a better existence? Check. Everyone good looking? Check. A hero who must rise up to the challenge? Check. Getting the point? The se

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“I Am Cait“ 8 p.m., Oxygen Television has long been a lighthouse shining bright on the banks of a sea of pop culture. In many ways, watching television has gotten the world through tough times and we’ve emerged as a better group of people. In 1977, 130 million people watched “Roots&rdq

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"Hollywood Game Night" 10:01 p.m., NBC Back in the day, primetime game shows featuring celebrities were all the rage. Shows such as “I’ve Got a Secret” featured stars having fun and it was a good time for a whole family. “Hollywood Game Night,” hosted by “Glee” star J

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"American Ninja Warrior" 8 p.m., NBC Most television reality shows manufacture drama in a way that just goes overboard. (I’m looking at you, “Total Divas.”) “American Ninja Warrior” doesn’t need to fake it. The concept of having people run an obstacle course seems simple en

“Home” (Rated PG for mild action and some rude humor, 94 minutes): And the award for weirdest on-screen duo goes to (drum roll sound) “Home!” I’d like to meet the person who thought, “Hey, let’s get that guy from ‘The Big Bang Theory’ to star alongside Rihanna.” In this animated

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"Hannibal” 10 p.m. Saturday, July 25 NBC While its already been canceled, the stylish drama based on the story of Hannibal Lecter is almost brand new with this upcoming episode. When the episode starts, three years have passed since last week’s episode. Lecter is locked away and Will Graham is try

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"Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!" 9 p.m., SyFy After the first two movies destroyed Los Angeles and New York, you’d think someone would have created a sharknado early warning system. That or the shark weather anomaly is just attracted to Ian Ziering. Much like 40-year-old fans of “Beverly Hills 90210.&rd

“X-Men: Days of Future Past - The Rogue Cut” (Rated PG- 13 for sequences of intense sci-fi violence and action, some suggestive material, nudity and language, 144 minutes): In the history of motion pictures, it’s not uncommon for many scenes in a film to end up on the cutting room floor. Many extras and bit players have

For a venue that screened “Gone with the Wind” before it was released in theaters, the Fox Performing Arts Center knows a little something about classic films.
The Riverside theater will once again screen cinema classics as part of its movie series starting with “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on Saturday, July 11.

“Woman in Gold” (Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and brief strong language, 109 minutes): If buddy cop comedies are a real movie genre, then I'm throwing the idea of the unlikely dramatic duo genre out there. Case in point, "Woman in Gold." Academy Award winner and all-around great actor Helen Mirren teams up with Ryan

Things are about to get a whole lot more comfortable at the Riverside Regal Cinemas location.
The national theater chain has formally announced plans to start replacing all of its regular seats at the Riverside Plaza Stadium 16 location with plush recliners.
For the past few weeks, the theater has set up two of the seats in the l

Notice all those tumbleweeds floating by? Don’t worry. That just means there is only one major DVD release set for Tuesday, June 23. But, that doesn’t mean it’s the only new movie to be found. Some would call it scraping the bottom of the barrel and some of these movie descriptions might make you think they are buried underneat

Bill Maher, comedian and host of HBO's "Real Time," will be doing two nights of stand-up at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside Saturday and Sunday, June 20-21.
I got a chance to talk to him by phone and had a wonderful chat about comedy and politics.

"Jurassic World" was big, loud and a sight to behold.
While I marveled at the dinosaurs and visual effects, I was a bit put off by the script. Other than almost everything being foreshadowed, I also had a number of questions that were left unanswered. If anyone has any theories, please feel free to chime in.
1. What did Owen do i

“Chappie” (Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity, 120 minutes): What if Johnny Five from “Short Circuit” was taught about life from thugs? “Johnny Five is alive, yo.” Another Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”) movie, another dystopian future. Hugh Jackman plays a soldier-engineer lookin

He didn't look like the typical professional wrestler.
But, Dusty Rhodes epitomized what it meant to be a wrestler. Not only could he perform in the ring with the best of them, but he was a master conductor on the microphone. If the mic was his conducting baton, the audience was his orchestra. And he was a genius when it came to crafting

To celebrate the season (series) finale of "Community," I've decided to write a review using the plot device from the episode. The episode, "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television," follows each character imagining what "season 7" would look like.
So, without wasting further blog space, here are my different versions of a "Commun

“The Spongebob Squarepants Movie: Sponge out of Water” (Rated PG for mild action and rude humor, 92 minutes): The talking sponge with the world’s most annoying voice is back. Does the plot even matter? Does it matter that Antonio Banderas is playing a pirate named Burger Beard? Or that Tim Conway is playing a seagull? Or

Imagine artifacts from a 5,000-year-old civilization being destroyed without a second thought. It’s not the plot to an Indiana Jones film; it’s quite real.
The documentary “Saving Mes Aynak“ follows archaeologist Qadir Temori on a quest to stop a Chinese mining company from destroying an ancient site in Afghanista

First we had people playing video games showing in theaters.
Now people talking about video games is coming right into movie theaters. But, it's kind of cool. Sony is bringing its Playstation E3 press conference to select movie theaters Monday, June 15.
For those who don't know, E3 is like a Comic-Con for video games. But, the ge

“Seventh Son” (Rated PG-13 for intense fantasy violence and action throughout, frightening images and brief strong language, 102 minutes): One of many urban legends in Hollywood is on full display this week: The Oscar curse. Someone wins Best Actress or Best Actor and the next movie that’s released after is going to be h